Puerto Galera

I had my 2nd trip to Galera this year, and it was a blast. Athough it was just the two of us. We still manage to have fun in the sand under the sun!

This time I avoided the holy week. we’d plan are trip Sunday. Thinking that less tourist are there.. But guess I was wrong. Its summer and Galera is a popular cheap destination. A lot of people are still there after the holy week and even after that weekend. I went there with a (ehem..) a friend. My 2nd time is much better than last year, though theres not much party this time, but it’s still ok.

We board M/V Commandos in Batangas port because a passanger gave us a tip that Commandos ship are in time, well maintained and safer. And it was true. The Boat captain treat us like a VIPs. On the port while still waiting for our boarding time, a lady ask us if we have a room in Galera. She gave us some brochure. At first I can’t decide because I dont want to stay in a aircon room because the last time I’ve been in Galera most of my time are out at the beach and I’m pretty sure there’s more cheap rooms available in the Whitebeach area. But then that lady told us that we can still back out, if we don’t like the room she is offering. She called the manager of Sea Jewel Beach resort and handed me her cellphone so I can make a deal on the prices of the room. I’m happy that they gave us a room worth 2,000 (regular) to only 1,200 pesos. Its a big discount and of course pretty cheap!

After an hour and a half we finally reach puerto galera, when the Ship docks at the white beach my friend is laughing because there is a man holding a big whiteboard with my our names and a welcome sign written on it . And when we finally saw our room, we decided to take it so that we can have our lunch because we were really hungry. Sea Jewel is great! It was very clean and nice. The staff are friendly (super) and their service is awesome.

After a short nap we went to the resto strip to find something to eat. We decided to eat at Buena Lynne’s. I ordered a Spaghetti and a burger with drinks for only 100 pesos, while Cai ate a BBQ with pancit and Rice for only 90.00. Its cheap but it took almost 20 minutes before they serve our food. And when we ask the waitress what happened to our food, she told us “kami nga po di pa kumakain” without even looking in our eyes!! We hate their service. Cai and I both worked in a customer relation and if only we can give them a basic orientation about customer service/relation we would love too. That was not the answer I’m expecting. Pakialam ko naman kung di pa sila kumakain? We pay pay their services. We want our food na kasi we are starving Kaya pala walang kumakain dun baka mga nadala na din. They don’t even apologized for the delayed..

After we ate, we went to the beach to swim (of course). Had a little talk and bought a beer. Time passed and we went back to our room to take a short nap. After some rest we get back to the resto strip eat at marginor for dinner and after a full meal we take a short rest until we feel that were ready to get drunk! A waiter/waitress

(actually a gay) slash dancer, caught our attention. Maingay sya and look very funny (not the looks pero the way he/she approaches the passer by. So we sit there at the Hiyas Angeline’s Bar and Grill, and ordered a pitcher of Mindoro Sling. We really enjoyed there because those gays/waiter/ess are dancing like a pro on those Pole. Very funny but entertaining indeed. They will dance and sing for you “laban o bawi” for a tip. Anyway its ok cause they deserve it.

After a night of fun, we wake up early to spend our reamaining hours at the beach. But first, we eat breakfast at Foodtrip sa Galera, a 24 hour fastfood offering a serving of unlimited rice! We also eat there for lunch to save money because extra rice in galera cost 20 pesos/cup.

We spent the morning eating and swimming. After lunch, we check out at our hotel and board M/V commandos back to batangas. It was a short vacation (because we need to get back home by Monday night) but a very satisfying Puerto Galera experince.

here’s our expenses :

Transportation:
from Laguna to Batangas Port - 200 pesos  for a roundtrip fare.
From Batangas port to white beach via M/V Commandos (120 capacity) 450 pesos for a roundtrip ticket.
environmental fee (one time) of 50 pesos.
terminal fee (one time) of 10 pesos.

Hotel rooms:
Sea Jewel Beach Resort (room for 3 person) - 2,000 but they gave us discount so it was down to 1,200 pesos.

Food and Drinks:
mininum of 170 per day for food. (excluding drinks)
Mindoro Sling: 330/pitcher.
Water refill (1 liter) - 10 pesos.
Softdrinks - 20 pesos/botlle
Beer SMB light- 60 pesos (some bars and resto offer a 45 pesos - 90 pesos per bottle)

Pasalubong:
Shirts/sando/shorts: 90 -150 pesos/piece any size
Anklet: 10 pesos (3 pieces)

Tips:
I recommend you should bring your own bottled water and some drinks. Also you can save a lot if you buy canned foods and some bread and spread for breakfast before going to Puerto galera. Also bought your ticket on a roundtrip, you’ll save 50 pesos! Book your room in advance. When your there and the manager felt that you are desperate finding a room they will gave you the highest possible cost for their rooms. A huh.. not a good deal. I would recommend the Jewel Sea Beach Resort. They are one of the newest hotel in white beach area so the ammenities and facilities looks brand new. All rooms are airconditioned with cable TV and Hot and Cold showers. They also serve food around 150 pesos.

You may contact them here:
Sea Jewel Beach Resort
Website: http://www.seajewelresort.com/
Cellphone # of the Manager:
Tita Lolit (very accomodating)
0927-3326858 and 0922-7359923

I hope my blog help you. Enjoy your vacation! =)